20. Project development

Learning outcomes - Implement project plan - Apply time management techniques - Summarise and communicate the essence of your project development

Have you answered these questions? - what tasks have been completed, and what tasks remain? - what has worked? what hasn’t? - what questions need to be resolved? - what will happen when? - what have you learned?

OK! Well let’s get to it.

I still need to:

Finish video and get it running smoothly. At the time of writing this, there was still an issue with slippage, and occassionally the wire would get caught in the belt. Addressing where the electronics are housed is also then an important thing to minimize the chance of breaking them.

What worked, what didn’t:

The cross stablization has worked well, with the bars running accross. The spacing of everything has been pretty good. The motor output doesn’t seem to be working as I would hope, especially with this power supply as compared to the one at Dassualt we saw on the older version of the conveyor. It needs to slow down to it doesn’t slip as much, which is most likely a current issue (since P = I^2 * R). The stablization of the pieces of the fram next to each other could use some work. I can use binder clips for now, but some kind of piece needs to be made to keep them together. It could probably be done with something on the middle bars?

What Questions need to be resolved:

Can we better control the motor speed? Would a portable power system (ie, batteries) be better for that? How can we make the system more stable? How can we get the distance control to work and where can we mount that?

What will happen when:

I will figure out about the motor power when I am able to get access to battery holders. It appears to work at 8 V, so maybe I could figure out a series of batteries to get us there. Unfortunately 9V don’t work because of their internal resistance, but C or AAs could be better. Lateral stability can be done now with binder clips, and moving forward as the device is used more, something else can be designed. Perhaps students can do it in the fall! Overall, the device works as is and these things can be addressed later.

What have I learned:

I have learned a bit about myself doing this, and where I prioritize things. During the completion of the final projet here, I was also approached with a bunch of things to do for the admin and colleagues at the school, and I did notice that I would prioritize getting some of their work done instead of my own, leading to some time management issues.